On April 13, at the 2022 Changan Automobile Global Partner Conference, Changan Automobile announced the name of the new energy brand, "Changan Deep Blue", and called it a new digital pure electric brand.
According to reports, Changan Deep Blue will provide four major brand values for new energy users of Generation Z, namely: innovative reconstruction, Internet of Everything, experience freewheeling, and low-carbon life.
At the same time, Changan Automobile said that by 2025, it will launch more than 30 products, with a total annual sales volume of 4 million vehicles, of which the annual sales of new energy will reach 1.05 million.
In order to achieve the above goals, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, said that by 2025, Changan Automobile will invest more than 80 billion yuan in new energy, intelligence, scientific and technological innovation, digital transformation and other fields.
Compared with the Shangri-La plan released by Changan Automobile in 2017, changan automobile not only clarified the specific action plan of Changan's new energy business at the global partner conference, but also released its determination to accelerate the promotion of new energy business, and accelerated the "live" forward.
01
Why speed up "getting charged"?
Under the guidance of national strategies such as double carbon strategy, scientific and technological innovation, and green development, the domestic new energy vehicle market is growing by leaps and bounds.
According to the data, China's new energy passenger car sales reached 3.31 million in 2021, accounting for 53% of the global market share, and has become the world's largest new energy vehicle market.
In the past quarter, the market penetration rate of domestic new energy vehicles reached 19.3%; compared with the market penetration rate of 8.5% of global new energy vehicles last year, it has been much higher. Moreover, the market penetration rate of domestic new energy vehicles is growing rapidly, and the market penetration rate of domestic new energy vehicles last year was only 14.8%.
It can be said that domestic new energy vehicles have begun to truly enter a new stage of market-oriented development.
In this regard, Zhu Huarong judged that Chinese brands already have the best opportunity to change lanes and even overtake. "Whether it is in electrification and intelligent transformation, or in the exploration of emerging business models, Chinese car brands are no longer bystanders or simple followers, but have become runners and even leaders."
He also said, "With the addition of new energy vehicles, driven by industrial change, the industrial elimination race has accelerated. Only by conforming to the trend of the times, continuously innovating and accelerating transformation can Chinese brands survive and develop in the fierce market competition. ”
In order to cope with the changes in the domestic automobile market, based on its own sustainable development, Changan Automobile has accelerated the "live" of the accelerator, which can be described as a cause.
02
Why speed up "getting charged"?
Not long ago, some domestic car companies announced the suspension of production of fuel vehicles, which triggered heated discussions. When releasing the Shangri-La plan, Changan Automobile also proposed to completely stop selling fuel vehicles in the traditional sense in 2025, and was the first car company in China to propose a ban on the sale of fuel vehicles.
However, in the past 4 years or so, compared with the new car-making forces and some car companies, Changan Automobile's process in the field of new energy seems to be somewhat slow. Until now, Changan Automobile's selling models are still mainly fuel vehicles.
Therefore, there are questions in the industry: can Changan Automobile do a good job in new energy vehicles? Why is it slower than some car companies? At the conference, Changan Automobile gave a positive response.
According to reports, following the release of the Shangri-La plan, Changan Automobile has achieved results in the field of new energy vehicles. It is mainly manifested in two aspects:
First, a new energy vehicle platform architecture has been built. For example, the EPA architecture is oriented to the mainstream electric vehicle market, and the pure electric series products C385, C673, and Changan LUMIN developed based on this are about to be released; for example, the CHN platform is a smart electric vehicle technology platform jointly created by Changan, Huawei, and NINGDE Times.
Second, it has broken through more than 400 core technologies in the field of "three electricity".
For example, in 2021, Changan Automobile released a new generation of seven-in-one super-collector electric drive, which is an electric drive system that deeply integrates seven major assemblies such as motors and reducers; at the same time, it is also the world's first high-frequency pulse heating technology for power drives;
For another example, Changan has developed a "seven-in-one" intelligent vehicle domain controller - Changan Smart Core SVDC.
In addition, in view of the transformation of enterprises, Changan Automobile has also matched the new institutional mechanism while storing technical capabilities. For example, promote the organizational reform of "small headquarters + business group + shared platform + incubation and innovation", establish a "smile curve" management logic, and form a matrix-type and flat management model. For example, in key strategic transformation areas such as new energy, automatic driving, and intelligent interaction, there are about 5,000 experts and engineering research and development teams, of which about 100 senior experts have been introduced. For example, iterative project follow-up investment mechanism and implement core employee equity incentives.
As a result, with the reserves of technology, people and organizations, coupled with the investment of large funds (80 billion yuan), it is logical for Changan Automobile to accelerate the "live".
So why is its new energy action slower than some car companies? Because Changan Automobile is a traditional car company after all, the fuel vehicle business is still a business that supports its survival and profitability in the short term, and the larger the original base plate business, the slower the transformation of the new business will inevitably be. Similar logic can refer to Toyota and Volkswagen.
03
How to speed up "live"?
In addition to announcing the long-brewed new energy brand name, Changan Deep Blue, Changan Automobile released the message at the conference, in a word, it has made comprehensive preparations to accelerate the "live".
First there is organizational reform, then the reserve of technology, and then the determination of new car launch plans and the matching of new marketing and services.
Judging from the information that has been released, Changan Automobile's "live" plan has covered 5 major brands, namely Avita, UNI, Changan Passenger Vehicle, Changan Auchan and Changan Kaicheng. Note that the AB brand has been announced before, and this time it corresponds directly to UNI. Although it was expected that UNI would grow from a sequence to a brand, this is indeed the first time that UNI has appeared as an independent brand.
Public information shows that by 2025, Changan Automobile will launch more than 30 products, covering high-end, mainstream, small, commercial and other global markets.
Among them, Avita, which is oriented to the high-end intelligent electric vehicle market, is currently planning 4 complete vehicles, including Avita 11. In the mainstream passenger car market, Changan will launch 21 new products, including 5 of Changan's deep blue brand. In the small car market, Changan will launch 4 new products, including LUMIN in 2022. In the commercial vehicle market, Changan will launch 6 new products.
Based on this, by 2025, Changan Automobile plans to achieve a total annual sales volume of 4 million vehicles, of which the annual sales of new energy will reach 1.05 million. In line with this, Changan Automobile will also develop integrated electric drive and semi-solid-state battery technology, build digital marketing, and open up the international market. Due to space limitations, the relevant information will not be expanded here.
Written in the end: At the time of writing, Changan Automobile can't wait to release the interior official drawing of C385 for the first time through the Changan Deep Blue brand, and after the top-level design of the brand and other top-level designs are clear, the C385 that Changan Automobile has high hopes for should come soon. Since then, Changan Automobile's new energy business has also opened a new prelude.